Dipper bucket corner member with integral shroud

ABSTRACT

The corners of the lip of a power shovel adjacent the digging edge of the lip are protected by removable guards, more specifically in the form of teeth, and projecting forwardly at each corner; each corner guard preferably includes an integral shroud embracing the portion of the digging edge of the lip which intervenes between the corner and the next adjacent dipper tooth, the latter being of any preferred form. Additionally the guard is so constructed as to present an extension at the rear thereof constituting a portion of the side wall of the dipper.

United States Patent 1191 Ratkowski 1 May 28, 1974 [54] DIPPER BUCKET CORNER MEMBER WITH INTEGRAL SHROUD [75] Inventor: Thomas A. Ratkowski, Chicago Heights, 111.

[73] Assignee: Abex Corporation, New York, N.Y.

[22] Filed: July 2, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 375,431

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 204,965, Dec. 6,

1971, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 37/141 T, 214/145 [51] Int. Cl. E02f 3/40, E02f 9/28 [58] Field of Search 37/141, 142; 214/145 [56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,485,243 2/1924 Blake 1. 37 142 R 1,716,432 6/1929 Downie 37 141 T 1,796,737 3 1931 Van Buskirk 37/142 R 2,965,989

12/1960 .Hibbard 377141 T 3,029,534 4/1962 Rakisits 37/141 R 3,281,972 11/1966 Kerestes 1 37/141 R 3,455,040 7/1969 Ratkowski 37/142 R 3,621,594 11/1971 Hahn et a1 37/141 T Primary ExaminerJ. Reed Fisher Assistant Examiner-Clifford D. Crowder Attorney, Agent, or Firml(inzer, Plyer, Dorn & McEachran [57] ABSTRACT The corners of the lip of a power shovel adjacent the digging edge of the lip are protected by removable guards, more specifically in the form of teeth, and projecting forwardly at each corner; each corner guard preferably includes an integral shroud embracing the portion of the digging edge of the lip which intervenes between the corner and the next adjacent dipper tooth, the latter being of any preferred form. Additionally the guard is so constructed as to present an extension at the rear thereof constituting a portion of the side wall of the dipper.

3 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEMAY 28 19M SHEET 1 OF 3 v INVENTOR. 405 THOMAS A. RATKOWSKI ATTOR NEYS NTOR.

- INVE THOMAS A. RATKOWSKI ATTORNEYS CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 204,965, filed Dec. 6, 1971 by Thomas A. Ratkowski, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the construction of excavating shovels or so-called dipper buckets of the kind used in large mining operations, the buckets sometimes being of ten cubic yard capacity or even larger. A characteristic feature of such a bucket is a lip at the front presenting a line of digger teeth at the digging edge.

Power shovels or dippers are subjected to severe stresses and extensive metal wear due to the nature of their application. Metal wear is most pronounced at the dipper front or lip. This is the portion to which the dipper teeth and the door latch plate are attached. The most vulnerable area of wear on the front occurs at the corners of the cutting edge just beyond the end teeth and around the corner of the lip up into the forward edge of the sides of the lip. If wear is allowed to continue, the front may fail due to insufficient strength for withstanding the load of the dipper teeth. To overcome failures of this type, it is common practice to take the shovel out of service and deliver it to welders who rebuild the worn area with weld deposits. This is a costly precedure due to down time of the operation and the cost of repair, to say nothing of the lack of production during the time the shovel is out of operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to guard the corners of a power shovel by presenting at each corner a forwardly projecting support for receiving a replaceable corner guard, which may be configured as a tooth, the arrangement being such that each corner guard has a top and bottom wall constituting an extension of the related side wall at the front of the lip, thereby to enable wear at the corners of the lip to be absorbed by the two replaceable corner guards.

The ordinary teeth presented by the dipper lip are naturally spaced from one another. This spacing will prevail under the present invention, which is to say that the cutting edge of the lip of the digger is exposed in the area between each corner guard and the adjacent tooth of ordinary form. Under the present invention, and as a further object, the exposed area of the lip of the dipper may be guarded by a lip shroud included as part of the replaceable comer guard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principle thereof and what is now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying that principle. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may bemade as desired by those'skilled in the art without departing from the present invention.

2 'In the drawings: FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the bucket of a power shovel;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation'at the lip of the bucket, on an enlarged scale compared to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view longitudinally of the tooth assembly shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section similar to FIG. 3 on a reduced scale, showing the supporting member or boss for the corner tooth;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are fragmentary sectional views substantially on the lines 5-5 and 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary front elevation at the corner of the lip of the bucket;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a comer tooth under the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary top plan view of the bucket lip; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective of the tooth.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 presents a fragmentary perspective view of the bucket of a power shovel, the bucket having a lip member 21 at the front thereof. The lip is an entire, integral casting including a bottom wall 22, a pair of side walls 23 and 24 extending normal to the bottom wall, and a forward cutting edge 25. A plurality of separate dipper teeth 30, in a line, are supported at the front of the lip and projecting forwardly-from the forward cutting edge. The dipper teeth are mounted on the lip in compliance with any preferred arrangement, constituting no part of the present invention, but it may be mentioned that the usual mode of construction is characterized by a replaceable cap or point removably secured to an adapter in turn secured to the cutting edge of the dipper lip whereby the tooth point may be reversed when one side is objectionably worn and whereby the entire tooth or cap may be replaced.

A characteristic feature of the present invention is that the corner edges of the lip are in the form of corner teeth 35. While the guards are shown as teeth in this embodiment, it is apparent that the same protective function is accomplished whether the guard is passive as a shroud or active as a tooth. Moreover as the tooth extension wears down, the rounded off portion remaining acts as a protective shroud and prolongs the life of a tooth guard further. The reason for this is that in field operation it is found that the comers of the lip are severely .worn in those areas just beyond the-ends of the line or ordinary teeth 30. Thus, the corners of the lip where the side walls join the cutting edge, ordinarily receive the same abuse as the digger tooth. This can be readily visualized by referring to the bucket shown in United States Letters Patent No. 3,107,445 which has no protection at the comers of the lip.

Under and in accordance with the present invention,

. each side wall of the lip is formed with a forwardly projecting support or boss 40, FIGS. 2,3 and 4, integral with the rest of thelip casting. The boss presents upper and lower seating surfaces 41 and 42. correspondingly, each comer tooth itself, 35, is characterized by a pair of spaced upper and lower walls 44 and 45 defining a cavity or recess 46 substantially complementary to the boss 40 whereby the tooth 35 may be. mounted on the boss as shown in FIG. 3, with the opposed inner surfaces of the tooth walls 44 and 45 substantially in bearing engagement with the opposed seating surfaces 41 and 42 of the support boss 40.

Further each support part 40 has a large aperture 47, FIG. 4, formed therein to extend between the seating surfaces 41 and 42. The walls 44 and 45 of the tooth part are provided with openings 48 and 49 which register with the aperture 47 when the two parts are associated, as shown in FIG. 3, allowing a C-clamp 51 and a wedge 52 to be placed therein and tightened whereby the fingers of the C-clamp engage the tooth whilst the wedge 52 is jammed between the long side of the C- clamp and the opposed front surface of the support aperture 47, rigidly securing the tooth to its support.

However, there are many different ways of separably holding the tooth on its support, and the present arrangement including the C-clamp and wedge is not restrictive.

The lip side wall 24, FIG. 1, is configured to present a forwardly facing shoulder 55. The upper wall 44'of the corner tooth includes an upwardly extending projection 56 at the aft end opposite the digging point 57 of the tooth and this projection presents a rearwardly facing wall 57 opposite the shoulder 55. Thus the rear of the tooth in effect constitutes a portion of the dipper side wall. Further, the opposed walls 55 and 57 limit the amount of creep of the tooth on the boss 40, and shoulder 55 serves as a shock absorbing abutment for the tooth as a whole.

A tang 58, FIGS. 2 and 3, extends rearwardly from the projection 56 and tits in-a corresponding recess 59, FIG. 4, formed in the shoulder 55. In like manner, the forwardmost end 40E of the boss 40 is narrowed and projects forwardly as shown in FIG. 7'so as to constitute a forward tang fitting a correspondingly narrowed and forwardly projecting recess 60 within the tooth, FIG. 8. Thus it will be seen that the tooth, when mounted on the boss, is secured against lateral dis-' placement by the rearwardly extending tang 58 and the forwardly extending tang 40E. When so mounted,

- shoulders 40B at the front of the boss, FIG. 7, abut opposed shoulders 448 within the tooth recess-46, FIG. 8. Each corner tooth has an outer side 70 and an inner side 71, FIGS. 9 and 10.

Each corner tooth, at what constitutes the inner side thereof, is cast integrally with a rearwardly concaved shroud 65, FIGS. 8 and 10, generally C-shaped and openingrearwardly. This shroud is configured to embrace theportion'of the lip edge 25, FIG. 9, which intervenes between the corner tooth 35 and the next adjacent dipper tooth as 30A, thereby to protect the intervening lip edge against wear. As is apparent from FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the rear surface 73 of shroud 65 slopes forwardly proceeding laterally from the inner side of the tooth. Also, as in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, thetop surface 75 of shroud 65 slopes downwardly proceeding laterally from the inner side of the tooth. The preferred form of the rear and top surfaces of the shroud is concaved so that any burden of earth from the top or rear of the tooth is sloughed off so that wedging or entrapment is reduced.

It will be seen from the foregoing that under the present invention the comers of a dipper lip, where the sides meet the digging or cutting edge, are provided with integral forwardly projecting bosses allowing a protective guard or tooth to be mounted thereon, the guard being heldon the boss replaceably by any desired means allowing for ready detachability. The guard is preferably stabilized on the boss by fore and aft tangs fitting corresponding recesses. One tang projects from the rear of the guard and the other tang is at the front end of the boss. Additionally the side of the guard is cast integrally with an outwardly projecting, rearwardly opening (concave) C-shaped shroud fitting and protecting the adjacent portion of the cutting edge of the lip. Also, the rear of the guard extends upwardly, opposite a recess at the side of the dipper, thereby to constitute a portion of the side of the dipper. Hence alterations and modifications may-be made as desired by those skilled in the art within the purview of the invention.

I claim:

1. A cast corner member for an excavating dipper in which the dipper has spaced side walls and a bottom wall having a forward edge, the bottom wall joining the side walls at respective corners, said member comprising: an inner side wall, an outer sidewall and spaced top and bottom walls terminating in a forward end, the spacing between the top and bottom walls of said member defining a recess for receiving a supporting boss projecting forwardly from one of the dipper side walls, and said member having a shroud cast-integral therewith and projecting laterally from the inner side thereof, said shroud being generally C-shaped and opening rearwardly to embrace said forward edge, said shroud having a top surface sloping downwardly proceeding laterally from the inner side wall of said member and having a rear surface which slopes forwardly proceeding laterally from the inner side wall of said member.

2. A member according to claim l in which both the top surface and rear surface are concave.

3. A member acccording to claim I mounted on said support boss; said member having a forward digging edge and an upwardly extending projection at the rear thereof, said projecting being nested in acomplemental recess in one of the side walls of the dipper. 

1. A cast corner member for an excavating dipper in which the dipper has spaced side walls and a bottom wall having a forward edgE, the bottom wall joining the side walls at respective corners, said member comprising: an inner side wall, an outer side wall and spaced top and bottom walls terminating in a forward end, the spacing between the top and bottom walls of said member defining a recess for receiving a supporting boss projecting forwardly from one of the dipper side walls, and said member having a shroud cast integral therewith and projecting laterally from the inner side thereof, said shroud being generally C-shaped and opening rearwardly to embrace said forward edge, said shroud having a top surface sloping downwardly proceeding laterally from the inner side wall of said member and having a rear surface which slopes forwardly proceeding laterally from the inner side wall of said member.
 2. A member according to claim 1 in which both the top surface and rear surface are concave.
 3. A member acccording to claim 1 mounted on said support boss; said member having a forward digging edge and an upwardly extending projection at the rear thereof, said projecting being nested in a complemental recess in one of the side walls of the dipper. 